For many people in the world, including many in India, the need that their well-being tomorrow is much better than it was yesterday is urgent and pressing -- a need that has been effectively captured at the global level by the Sustainable Development Goals. And as we build the electrical, industrial, mobility, and municipal infrastructure required to meet these needs, and the air conditioners and vehicles, and cement, steel and paper that would be required, the choices that we make will determine our future. Resource intensive practices of yesterday will no longer sustain the world. They lead to low incomes, few jobs, and the production of a lot of waste. Tomorrow’s world needs to be powered by resource use efficiency, generating as little waste as possible, and converting that waste into useful products.

Take agriculture for example. India’s green revolution, based on the introduction of high-yielding seed varieties with high inputs of water and fertilizers, undoubtedly increased land productivity, enabling us to feed ourselves. But, it has also led to a levelling off in agricultural productivity in recent years, linked to over-fertilization of soils, depletion of water tables and the contamination of surface and ground water – all of which are side effects of the resource intensive approach to enhancing livelihoods and quality of life. The high-resource input – high product output paradigm is now no longer capable of delivering the enhanced wellbeing that is urgently needed.

We believe that an accelerated move towards adoption of more resource efficient and less waste producing technologies is essential for prosperity with sustainability.

For that to happen, we need to create adequate demand for new and more sustainable options. Unfortunately, new options, at least initially, tend to cost more than conventionaloptions: An LED bulb costs more than an incandescent bulb, and 24-hour electricity from renewables costs more than electricity from coal. Also, the infrastructure for the new options may not exist, such as charging stations for electric cars. In the last few years, however, we have seen examples of business models that have leveraged the size of the Indian market to build up high volumes, leading to fall in prices.

The best example to illustrate the transition to a sustainable prosperity option is that of the LED bulb programme, where aggregation of demand on one hand, and bulk procurement on the other, helped enhance sale volumes and bring down prices. Four years ago, hardly anybody in India was manufacturing LED bulbs but thanks to EESL’s business model, over 600 million bulbs have been installed today; half of which have been sold by EESL, with components largely made in India. A similar transformation is happening the solar electricity sector, where due to bulk procurement, the price of solar electricity (when the sun is shining) is already less than the price of coal electricity, and it is anticipated that 24-hour electricity from solar panels and batteries will cost less than coal electricity in another decade. It helped that LED bulbs and solar panels are visually different from conventional options that they replace; it suggests that as consumers, we need to “see” the sustainability difference; Star labels on air conditioners and refrigerators possibly provide another example.

We have learnt that the creation of demand in a competitive environment for new and more sustainable options is essential to increase their sales, reduce their costs, enable manufacturing in India, and incentivize R&D.

Along with enhancing resource-use efficiency, the second goal is the need to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. The 3R practices, leading to a circular economy, provide opportunities to make money from waste. This is of importance to India and other developing countries since they open new job opportunities, especially when combined with basic and vocational education, as well as new technologies and business models which are attractive to other emerging economies as well. These transitions – at least as pilots and small projects - are happening all over the world, and each one of us can benefit from these experiences, as well as build partnerships of ideas and businesses that can help us put together the technology, finance, business models, and policies to accelerate the transition.

Transition is fait accompli – but if it focusses on enhancing resource efficiency and minimizing waste generation, it can happen sooner, with strong benefits for all.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEnergyworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEnergyworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.

Ajay Mathur is the Director General of The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. He was earlier the DG of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Mathur was also the Indian spokesperson at the 2015 climate negotiations at Paris.

Ajay Mathur is the Director General of The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. He was earlier the DG of Bureau of Show more.. Energy Efficiency (BEE). Mathur was also the Indian spokesperson at the 2015 climate negotiations at Paris.